Evaluation of the self-assessment knowledge regarding cardiopulmonary resuscitation in medical students at the University of Belgrade.

OBJECTIVE: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a vital skill that can improve the outcome of patients with sudden cardiac arrest. To raise awareness about CPR some countries have introduced an obligatory First Aid Course (FAC), usually done parallelly to a driver's license (DL). While expected of doctors to know CPR, the curriculum of some medical schools does not seem to have enforced measures to improve that knowledge. The aim was to have students self-evaluate their current knowledge of CPR, comparing it before university and whether it improved during their studies. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in October 2020 using an anonymous questionnaire among students at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade (studies in English). RESULTS: A total of 172 (66.7%) students possessed a DL, of which 39.8% felt they were ready, 45.8% felt neutral, and 14.4% felt unable to perform CPR. The total number of students that completed a FAC during their studies was 165. Analysis was performed on the ability assessment data after the first FAC during studies, comparing it to FAC for DL and assessments at the end of studies. No statistically significant difference was observed in the level of self-reported ability to perform CPR, while a statistically significant difference was found in ability assessments when comparing only the FAC for the DL, and the one after the first FAC during medical studies, with students feeling more prepared after the FAC for DL. Across the sample, 90.2% of the students wished they had more CPR training during their medical studies. CONCLUSIONS: From this study, it may conclude that students wish and need more CPR training in their curriculum.

Snail1 controls TGF-ß responsiveness and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells.

The Snail1 transcriptional repressor plays a key role in triggering epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Although Snail1 is widely expressed in early development, in adult animals it is limited to a subset of mesenchymal cells where it has a largely unknown function. Using a mouse model with inducible depletion of Snail1, here we demonstrate that Snail1 is required to maintain mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). This effect is associated to the responsiveness to transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß1 that shows a strong Snail1 dependence. Snail1 depletion in conditional knockout adult animals causes a significant decrease in the number of bone marrow-derived MSCs. In culture, Snail1-deficient MSCs prematurely differentiate to osteoblasts or adipocytes and, in contrast to controls, are resistant to the TGF-ß1-induced differentiation block. These results demonstrate a new role for Snail1 in TGF-ß response and MSC maintenance.